Whatever the case, it's clear that Boehner does not have unanimous support from his caucus. And the shift in focus to restoring military-benefit cuts — something that members of both parties have supported, but would actually increase spending — is a play to earn at least some Democratic votes.

"Right now, Jesus himself couldn’t be the speaker and get 218 Republicans behind something, so I think Speaker Boehner is trying his best to come up with a plan that can get close to that. Whatever we move, there will be critics everywhere, but at the end of the day we still have to govern."

At a press conference Thursday morning, Boehner said that talks with members of his caucus were still ongoing. But he acknowledged that Democratic votes will be needed to pass a debt-ceiling bill, and he added a joke of his own.

"Mother Theresa is a saint now, but if we wanted to attach that to the debt ceiling, we probably couldn't get 218 votes," he said.